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Saturday, November 17

A Dead Man's Tongue

I write medieval. 1170 medieval, which is when The Fifth
Knight is set. A lot of people said that it wasn’t a good time period. Too far
back. Too remote. Readers wouldn’t engage. Hmm. I’ve never been sure about
that. Because people were still people, even in 1170. While there have of
course been huge changes to us and our world in the last 800 years, many things
remain the same. As people, we have our loves, our hates, our struggles to deal
with whatever the world throws at us.

And
boy, can the world throw stuff. War, disease, famine and death is still a
pretty good summary of what people have to face across the world of 2012. You
can also add in tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes. Same as it was in 1170.
And for all of these terrifying things that happen, we don’t fear them or react
to them in a detached way. We fear them because we fear for our loved ones, for
ourselves. The desire to protect, to keep safe is as old as humanity.

(Those of you who have stopped by to find out about the
Dead Man’s Tongue are probably by now getting restless. Don’t worry, you’ve not
been mis-sold.)

One
of ways medieval people tried to keep themselves safe, to ward evil and harm
from them was to appeal to the saints. The medieval church had a very strong
culture of sainthood. The saints had been born ordinary people, but had lived
their lives and died with such devotion to and sacrifice for God that the
church had canonised them.

A
pillar of the culture of sainthood was the concept of relics. In modern day Catholicism,
you have classes of relics. First class relics are the bodies of saints or
parts of their bodies, including bones, soft tissue and hair, and yes, a tongue.
Such relics are housed in churches built and dedicated to that saint and are
the subject of great devotion. Second
class relics are taken from the clothing of the saint. Third class relics
include anything touched by the saint, or by touching an object to a first or
second class relic. The belief is that people who pray to these relics can be granted favours by God.

And
did medieval people ever need those favours. In 1170, people lived a harsh
live, with a life expectancy of late forties for the wealthy (and considerably
lower for the poor). Things we (at least we in the privileged western world)
take for granted were enormously risky for our 1170 dweller, who had access
only to herbal medicine. Childbirth, a
chest infection, a broken limb, a bad dose of food poisoning: the vast majority
of us, thank goodness, can come through all these in one piece. Modern medicine
sees to that. But without modern medicine, so much becomes life threatening.

If
illness weren’t enough, there were risks of crop failure and starvation.
Famines and food shortages were a regular feature of medieval life. Throw in
wars and conflict, where just one injury could be enough to end a life and we
begin to see why people sought protection where they could. For many, their
devotion to the saints was all they had. So to have relics, to have a link to a
saint in your possession, was hugely valued.

The
containers used to keep relics in are called reliquaries. Those containing
first class relics are fabulously made of gold, silver and precious stones and
can be found today in churches across the world. But in my research for The
Fifth Knight, I came across the far less grand thread-boxes. Archaeologists
have found at least three dozen of these in women’s graves going back as far as
the seventh century. Tiny boxes, with scraps of material and herbs, a defence
against harm. Heartbreakingly, one of the finds was in a baby’s grave.

You
could argue that such practice is consigned to the history books and has no
relevance today. But pay a visit to a church such as the magnificent Saint Anthony’s Basilica in Padua, Italy and you will see devotion to a saint’s
relics as real as it would have been in 1170. Saint Anthony’s tongue is indeed
on display in a magnificent gold reliquary. It may be shrivelled and black, but
it is still recognisably a tongue.

Many
would think it strange that thousands of people go to see it every year. Under
normal circumstances, most of us would turn down the opportunity to see a human
body part. But it’s when you look around the church, you see it’s not about that.
There is photo after photo of loved ones. People have placed them there, asking
for the saint’s help. In the remarkable Museum of Popular Devotion next door,
there are hundreds of exhibits people have submitted to show their prayers
being answered. Many of these are in picture form and have no words to explain
them. They don’t need to. They show people ill, in car accidents, in peril at
sea. Child after child falling from a balcony, a window. One even shows a
burning TV! But in all, Saint Anthony is represented as having intervened, as
saving the loved one.

I
think the women who kept their thread-boxes would understand those pictures immediately, no matter how
many centuries separated them. A hope, a plea, that loved ones will be kept
safe from harm, that they can be kept safe from peril. I don’t think that ever
changes. So yes, I write medieval. But it doesn’t feel remote to me.

If
you’d like to read a story about thread-boxes, and a woman who kept one, have a
look at the tale of The Red Cap in Fifth Knight Tales. These are free short stories about other
characters in the world of The Fifth Knight.

And
if you read The Fifth Knight, you’ll find out if her prayers were answered.

Note: The Fifth Knight can be found on
Kindle Serials. At this time, only
US customers can purchase the serialized format. The book will be released in
complete format by Thomas & Mercer in 2013.

4 comments:

Absolutely fabulous post. The relics exhibition in the British Museum was incredible too and high status reliquaries were crystal as well as gold and silver. I look forward to reading the novel and how exciting for it to be a serial too.

Sir Benedict Palmer returns to Germany on November 1 2016!

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About Me

E.M. Powell’s medieval thrillers THE FIFTH KNIGHT and THE BLOOD OF THE FIFTH KNIGHT have been #1 Amazon bestsellers and a Bild bestseller in Germany. Book #3 in the series, THE LORD OF IRELAND, was published by Thomas & Mercer on April 5 2016. Born and raised in the Republic of Ireland into the family of Michael Collins (the legendary revolutionary and founder of the Irish Free State), she now lives in northwest England with her husband, daughter and a Facebook-friendly dog. She is also a contributing editor to International Thriller Writers The Big Thrill magazine, blogs for English Historical Fiction Authors, reviews fiction & non-fiction for the Historical Novel Society and is part of the HNS Social Media Team. Find out more by visiting www.empowell.com.